What Could Have Been
by xXFallenxBeautyxX
Summary: "Sakura, we can marry, have children, a beautiful house, a bright future-," Sasuke was cut off by Sakura's gentle tone. "No Sasuke, that's what could have happened, you lost your chance." One-shot


This is my first fan-fiction so I'm kind of nervous. ^.^ Special thanks to E person for encouraging me to make this and editing it. YOU ROCK! :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Please read, review, and enjoy :)

_Days have come by, time flies_

_But the scars you left me stay here._

_I have moved on, past you_

_But I can't help but to remember you._

_My sweet angel… _

Sakura's P.O.V

Three years,_ three_ years since I saw him last. A lot has changed since then. Team 7 has gotten a new addition to replace Sasuke, and we've all trained ourselves to become stronger. I've had my ups and downs. One point, I became emotionless, ignoring everyone who cared about me. But I realized how ignorant I was acting and changed that. Now Team 7 is standing at the outside of Orochimaru's lair, where we see our ex-teammate, Sasuke Uchiha.

Naruto immediately gets out of control, not that I blame him. I can't even bare the sight of such a bright boy like Sasuke turning into this… _monster_. Yamato jumps to action, attempting to calm Naruto down, while Sai is observing Sasuke in case he decides to attack. I lean against the wall, trying to figure out a battle strategy in case we end up fighting.

I shift my gaze to look at the handsome face that I was so used to seeing. _'How can once such an innocent soul find so much darkness in their life?' _I wondered.

I keep staring intently at him, trying to memorize every single feature, because I know I won't get another chance in a long while. His eyes, dark and solemn, like the very thing he has become. So mysterious, yet, innocent in a way. I think of all the things he has been through, ashamed that I will never understand his… _agony_.

He faces my direction and catches my eye. I don't look away. We both continue staring at each other, until he half scowls/half smirks at me.

"Sakura, Sakura" Sasuke began, eyes cold and distant. He closed his eyes and smiled sadly, "Oh how much you've changed."

I looked at him, confused at his words. "What do you mean?"

The rest of Team 7 now has their eyes towards us, interested in our conversation. Naruto kept his mouth shut, not wanting to aggravate anyone.

Sasuke comes down to my level, now face to face with me. I flinch when he tucks a strand of my petal pink hair behind my ear.

"You've grown," He states, eyes never leaving mine.

I chuckled slightly at the obvious statement, "So have you."

He continues to stare directly into my eyes, "How long has it been, Sakura? Two, three years?"

"Three years," I reply.

"Wow," He breathes out, caressing my face. "How beautiful..."

I raise an elegant pink eyebrow in response. What has gotten into him? I figure that's enough and push him away lightly.

He stumbles slightly but regains his posture. Shock and embarrassment are shown on his features, but his face returns to the emotionless mask that it had once been.

"What can I do, to convince you to come with me?"

Confusion is clearly shown on my face again as I try to process what he meant.

'_Come with him?'_

"I would never betray Konoha," I stated, proud of myself for my determination.

"But you were willing to before,"

'_Ouch' _

"_Before_," I hissed out. "I was ignorant and foolish, blinded by a useless emotion."

He smirked. "Well what made you change?"

"I matured, Sasuke," Something that we all eventually do, well at least _most_ of us."

He ignores my statement, "How about this," he begins. "If I beat you in battle, you come with me."

I appear behind him and put a kunai to his throat. "What purpose do you need me for anyways?"

I start thinking about it. He has a medic already, and a pretty decent team. What _could_he need me for?

Sasuke appears behind me and throws me on the ground. "You'll find out eventually."

We start sparring; Team 7 stays in the back, allowing us to battle. A whole bunch of jutsu is used, in the end, he defeated me. No, not really. He managed to defeat my clone, while the rest of my team and I retreated. Our mission was only to discover one of Orochimaru's lairs anyways, not to find Sasuke.

I arrive home and sit on top of my bed, already in my PJ's. I keep thinking what he could want me for. _'Revenge?' _I wonder. I shake my head _'No, he doesn't need or want any help with revenge so what could it be? 'There's only two members of the Uchiha clan left... .' That's it! _My eyes open wide as I feel like slapping myself for how obvious the answer is. _Restoring the Uchiha clan... that's all he wants. _At this thought my eyes grow cold and distant, and then narrow into slits. I scowl and hop into bed to go to sleep, not wanting to waste my time thinking about him any longer.

'_He's a lost cause… once so beautiful, now so dark.'_

Sasuke's P.O.V.

I scowled, as I dust myself off and collect my belongings. _'It was a clone all this time? I should have known'_ My eyes narrowed as I glared at the sight around me. I thought it would be easy, getting Sakura to come with me. I guess she did change though. She let her hair grow long again, no longer in choppy layers, but in a smooth, straight wave. She stood with elegance and authority, with a calm composure, unlike her teammates. She was… _**beautiful**_. _'Sakura matured. I wonder, what made her like that?'_

In that moment, I began to have a flashback from the past, showing her pain.

"Sasuke, NO!" She screamed, tears streaming down her face. "DON'T LEAVE ME!"

"Hn. You're annoying." I spoke as I knocked her out cold.

I stood there watching, as all these memories played back in my mind.

Sakura stood there in black, watching as the two bodies were being placed in the coffin. She didn't cry, she had no more tears left. She watched as her parents were placed six-feet under, and buried there forever. When everyone left, she ran to their graves and began to sob. She put her hands over her heart. "Why..?" She said hysterically. "Why must you people take the last thing I have in this world?" She began to sob again, but no tears fell out. Sakura slept in the graveyard that night. She slept in between her parents graves, with a sad, small, smile on her face.

_Her parents died? I thought, not believing what I was seeing. _

Sakura went into a deep depression, not eating nor sleeping, not even communicating with anybody. The only thing she would do was just get up in the morning and train. Train until her body passed out; train until it felt like she was going to _die. _She started to enjoy the physical pain, because it distracted her from the emotion that she felt inside. One day Naruto found her bleeding in her bathroom. He barged in when he smelled blood while he was walking past her house. He broke down her bathroom door and found her on the ground, wrists bleeding, and a sadistic smile on her face. He started screaming at her, trying to take the knife away, but she kept thrashing around. "NO, NO! DON'T TAKE AWAY THE ONLY SOURCE OF HAPPINESS I HAVE LEFT!" She screamed hysterically trying to plunge the knife in her throat. "Sakura-chan! This isn't happiness this is TORTURE!" He yelled at her while ripping the knife away from her hands. _  
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I stood there in total shock, not believing the horror I just saw. I started heading back to the inside of the base, while this other flashback occurred, this one, not as bad as the other two.

"Sakura-chan," Naruto began, "We miss you and we want you back.., I know you've been going through a rough time, but it's about time you composed yourself-,"

Naruto was cut off by Sakura hugging him. "I know Naruto, I know. I promise you, I'm going to change." She looked up at him and smiled softly, a real smile, not a sad or sadistic smile, but a real one.

And so she did, day by day she started to return back to normal. But in doing so she became more calm and professional like, now knowing the true hardships of humanity.

I reached my base and started heading up to my room. I lay down on my bed and began to wonder what it would be like if I got Sakura to come with me and restore the clan. Then I started to get a vision-a vision from the future.

Sakura was happily cooking dinner until she was interrupted by a little 5 year old boy running towards her.

"Mommy, Mommy!" He yelled running towards Sakura. His appearance was exactly like Sasuke's, except with Madara's hair and dark green eyes.

Sakura smiled and picked up the boy, "What is it Raiku?" She asked.

_Is that her son?_ Jealousy overcame me as I thought that.

"Look! Daddy taught me a new jutsu today!"

Sakura put the boy down as he shouted the familiar words, "Fireball Jutsu!" A huge burst of flames came out of his mouth.

Sakura gasped and then yelled, "SASUKE! WHAT HAVE I TOLD ABOUT TEACHING OUR KIDS JUTSUS?"

_Sasuke? Our kids?_

An older version of me came down the stairs carrying an adorable, lively three year old with petal pink hair and Mangekyou Sharingan.

_Is that little girl mine? And that boy?_

"What is it Sakura?" I replied, "I was trying to put Hikari to sleep."

Sakura sighed and ran her hand through her hair.

"Did you teach Raiku fireball jutsu?"

My eyes widened and then I directed my speech to the anxious 5 year old. "Raiku, didn't I tell you not to show anyone what I taught you?"

Raiku eyes lowered to the floor and he shakily responded, "Sorry Mommy and Daddy."

Sakura's eyes softened and I smirked and ruffled the boys' hair. "Don't worry about it."

The young mother then mouthed to her husband, "We'll talk about this later."

I hn'ed and then picked up the little girl from the floor and headed upstairs.

The vision ends and I let a rare smile take over my features. '_What a beautiful family' _Can this really be, what could happen?

_What could have happened if I didn't reject her._

_What could have happened if I didn't leave_

_What could have happened if I didn't abandon her, in her time of most need._

The question is not what could happen. Because we all know the answer.

This beautiful bright future?

Is what _could _have been.

_The wounds are gone, but the memories have left_

_A permanent scar in my chest_


End file.
